I'm a twentysomething library assistant, loving my job, and on the road to becoming a real librarian. A former English major, I am now in library school for my Masters of Library and Information Science. I am rather inclined toward all things British, especially Agatha Christie murder mysteries and Jane Austen novels/film adaptations. My husband puts up with this, and actually watches them with me, and I appreciate that.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Update on my sister

Andrea got out the hospital yesterday and seems to be feeling better. I know she's kind of depressed about all the diabetes crap and doing the blood glucose testing, but I think once she gets into a routine and finds her groove with it, it will be like second nature. I'm going to give it six months.

In weirdly exciting news, Andrea let me give her a shot last night! One of the first things I asked her when S and I visited her in the hospital on Tuesday was, "Can I give you your shot?" She was like, "Nah, I need to practice," and she did it and we watched, and it seemed pretty simple. So last night, before bed, she said, "You can give me my bedtime shot." I don't know why, but I am strangely fascinated by it, and so I was excited to help take care of my sister.

First, she tested her blood, and it came back at 306. "Holy poop! I'm so high." I laughed, because the Facebook group she joined (and I also joined in support) had a comment from someone who said, "The first person to say 'I'm so high' was a diabetic." Then Andrea used the sliding scale to figure out how much insulin to give herself, and it wasn't very clear so we asked my mom, and she wasn't sure, so Andrea called the hospital and the on-call doctor called her back to clarify. She needed 10 of the slow-acting insulin for her bedtime dose, and then 3 extra of the fast-acting insulin to lower her levels more quickly. Andrea gave herself the first shot and demonstrated, and then she let me do the second one. (I admit she helped guide the needle.)

I think I may cook one of the diabetic recipes from the cookbook I checked out from the library yesterday, Easy, Delicious Diabetic Recipes, which actually look amazingly tasty. Plus, I got a cookbook of desserts for diabetics, and they have real sugar in them, so Andrea will not have to give up her beloved cupcakes, not if I can help it.

3 comments:

Wow. This answers the question as to why you joined the group on diabetes. Anyhow, I can't even begin to imagine the feelings that Andrea is dealing with right now, but it's good to hear that she is on her way to maintaining her insulin. I'll be thinking of you and your family. Take care!